Kelly Roche, QMI Agency

OTTAWA — A group of 26 current and former Canada Revenue Agency staffers won the $32-million Lotto Max jackpot.

“It’s been a crazy weekend of talking to the group, convincing them this win was not a joke. I heard a lot of joyous screaming on the phone,” group captain Philippe Bussiere said.

Many in the group are still in shock after claiming their $32,685,304.80 at the OLG Prize Centre in Toronto on Tuesday.

Oh, and there was an extra $2 thrown in for an Encore prize.

Bussiere has been organizing the group for six years. He had photocopies of the winning ticket, but realized the original was in a mug on his desk, so he made a special trip to the office to ensure it was moved to a safer place.

Colleague Francine Moore volunteered to check the tickets and noticed they had matched all seven numbers.

She asked her husband to double-check.

“When he confirmed the numbers, I was so excited that I wanted to start calling people but didn’t have anyone’s number and couldn’t remember anyone’s number,” Moore said.